Page 64 of I Am the Storm
"It's the fastest way, and we haven't much time. Now!"
Not wanting to argue, but also very much wanting to argue, I ignore my own survival instincts and climb awkwardly onto her back.
She takes off into the sky, and I feel as if I'm being pulled through a wind tunnel.
"Use your air magic," she says loud enough for me to hear her.
I could kick myself for not thinking of that.
I channel my power and manipulate the air around me until it's comfortable. Smiling, I clutch her back and study the scenery below.
It doesn't take long for me to realize we are heading to the edge of the world, where the wall of Dragon's Breath prevents anyone from traveling farther.
Ava'Kara lands us near Kaya the dryad's tree, and I slide off, my legs trembling.
In the center of the grove is the dragon egg, shimmering and pulsing, and there's a crack running down its side. We are alone here, though I can feel the presences of the dryads within their trees.
"It was returned to me," Ava'Kara says, staying in her dragon form. "We know not by whom, but it does not matter. My heir is home, and she is being born as we speak."
Holy shit. Am I about to witness the birth of a dragon?
Yes. Yes, I am.
Because at that moment, the first little dragon claw cuts through the mucous and shell and pokes out, and Ava'Kara makes a strange clucking sound and moves toward her child.
I don't know how long we stand there, but slowly the baby dragon emerges, scales a lighter shade of blue from her mother's, eyes so large they look almost animated, and that newborn innocence that all babies have.
Once she's shed her shell, she takes a few clumsy steps towards her mother, then falls, hiccups, and then quite suddenly turns into a more human-looking baby. She giggles, then turns back into a dragon.
Ava'Kara glances at me. "She'll learn to control that soon enough."
I just nod.
Because holy shit.
The water dragon brings her baby to her, and they snuggle as if they have always been together.
"I need you to perform a ceremony," Ava'Kara says after some time.
"What kind?" I ask. I've read about a lot of different kinds of ceremonies, so I'm hoping it's one I'm familiar with.
"A World Expansion Ceremony," she says softly, setting her child down and shifting into her human form to approach me. "It will require all of the elements, which is why you are the only one who can do it."
"I've never heard of it," I say.
"Because it is the Council of Dragons' most closely guarded secret. Many have paid a steep price for even possessing a fraction of the knowledge I'm about to impart on you tonight," she says.
I think of Lester, rotting in prison because his family knew secrets and lies. And I'm reminded what he said about me, as well. Maybe his ramblings weren't so crazy after all.
"Why is it such a secret?" I ask, my throat dry. I know I'm about to hear something I very much do not want to hear. I feel the fear before I even know why.
"Because it involves the death of a dragon to perform," she says, and I gasp, stepping back.
"You want me to kill a…dragon?" I can't. I cannot.
"I want you to sacrifice me," she says stepping forward.
"You want to kill yourself? Why?" I should start a support group. Nearly every paranormal I've met has serious mental health issues. And for the first time I wonder if there is any kind of mental health services in this world, but I realize this is really not the time and my mind is dissociating from what is happening because I am utterly freaked out.